43 weeks/10 months

James was 43 weeks old yesterday and he will be 10 months old on Sunday. We returned from vacation last Monday, not ready to go back to work nor ready for summer to be over quite yet. It was fun to visit everyone and it was nice to spend so much time together as a family as well.

While we were on vacation, a 7th tooth finally popped through -- giving him a 4th tooth on top. He has gotten into a really good pattern of sleeping, too: going to bed between 7 and 8 each night and sleeping until 6 or 7 in the morning. Of course, every waking moment is spent getting into everything he possibly can so we shouldn't be too surprised that he just wears himself out.

Tonight, I let him play in his bedroom while I sorted through his clothes. I'm sure just a minute or two passed before I looked up and saw this:


He just loves to clear out shelves or empty containers (which he did to our suitcases multiple times on vacation).

Once he was done with his changing table, he moved on to the bookshelf, carefully choosing the best book of all:

Look at all those chemical structures in Grandpa's book!

42 weeks

James is 42 weeks old today. We have spent the last few days exploring the Oregon coast. James seems to be enjoying himself, and we are having a good time as well.

Wading in the ocean for the first time... brrr!

Beautiful Oregon coast

James looks out at the ocean from our hotel room

Cape Kiwanda beach

the tallest waterfall in Oregon

two treehuggers

Aaron heads out for a morning paddle on Nehalem Bay

Today, we say goodbye to the Oregon Coast as we head back to Gig Harbor for one more night with Aaron's grandparents. Then on to San Diego!

41 weeks

James was 41 weeks old this past Thursday -- and he also went on his very first plane ride! We had to get up really early for our flight and we were happy that he slept at the airport before we left.

Unfortunately, our flight didn't leave on time due to fog in Seattle. When we did finally leave, we spent the next 7 hours on the airplane -- first circling SeaTac, waiting for the fog to clear, then 2 aborted landings, then a stopover in Yakima to refuel. 4 hours later, we did eventually make it to Seattle. James did really well on the plane. He slept for almost 2 hours, played quietly in his car seat for a few more hours, and was squirmy for the rest of the time. Once he got in the car to head to Gig Harbor, though, he was done with his car seat and didn't hesitate to let us know.

We all felt better once we arrived at Aaron's grandparents' place and had a snack and a chance to move around. Since they had a full house at their place, we were staying at the house of some neighbors. This is what we see from the hot tub :) Not a bad view!

On Friday, we took the ferry into Seattle for the afternoon. James seemed to enjoy himself:



Saturday involved much less traveling. We spent most of our time at Aaron's grandparents' house. James played with cousins and grandparents and great-grandparents and aunts and uncles. Aaron and I were even able to escape for a few hours for a date night:

Tomorrow, we head down into Oregon for more visiting and more exploring.

40 weeks

James is 4o weeks old today. We have all been enjoying sleeping in our own rooms this week -- no more 4 am wake up calls! He also learned a new trick yesterday when he pulled himself up all the way into a standing position in his crib. You would think he would be excited by this, but instead he started crying, not knowing how to get back down. Silly boy!

We have been trying to give him more finger foods, but with little success. Here is James with some carrots yesterday. More ended up on him and on the floor than in his mouth.

No more carrots!

Carrots make me sad!
After dinner, we headed outside. Outside was better than carrots.

He must have just spotted the cat

Bath time

"helping" with laundry

Perhaps tomorrow, he can help with "packing" as we start to get ready for our tip out west. Seems to me that James is a bit better at unpacking, though :)

9-month check up

James had his 9 month check up this morning:
weight: 18 lbs, 8 oz (17th percentile)
height: 28.5 inches (59th percentile)
No shots today!

He definitely isn't gaining weight like he was in those first few months. We're supposed to start introducing more finger foods and more texture to his diet. Right now, finger foods are things to drop on the ground rather than put in a mouth but hopefully he'll figure out what to do with them before too long. He puts everything else in his mouth, so I'm not sure why peas or cut up fruit are any different!

Tonight is a big night for all of us -- James will be sleeping in his own room. We swapped Aaron's desk in the study for James' crib so the study is now officially James' room. He has been waking up crying at night more often and being able to see us from his crib, he didn't just go back to sleep right away. And then we were all awake. We're hoping that everyone will sleep better with this arrangement. And I'm looking forward to decorating his new room!

fun with grandparents

James' grandparents stopped by this afternoon to spend a few hours with him (and us, too, but it was mostly about James). They played ball together and we all went on a picnic.





In the next couple of weeks, James will get to see all of his grandparents, plus great-grandparents and great-aunts and uncles, too. I hope he's ready for all the attention he will get! From the pictures above, he certainly doesn't seem to mind :)

39 weeks/9 months

James was 39 weeks and 9 months old last Thursday. Our little 9 month old is so curious and interested in the world around him. He loves standing, scooting, and putting anything and everything in his mouth. We will ask him where the kitty is and he will look around for Amelie and squeal in delight when he finds her. He also gets excited when he sees doggies and other little kids.
James has 6 teeth now -- three on top and three on the bottom. No sign of any other teeth any time soon. He doesn't really use the teeth to chew any of the small bits of food we give him, but there is plenty of biting.

James loves bath time and is happy to sit and splash in his little tub as long as we will let him. He also loves going for walks and reading and chewing on books.
He is sleeping well for the most part, but there are also nights when he is up a couple of times -- and days when he just refuses to nap. Too much to explore and he just doesn't want to miss anything!